Paper Flowers
by Snapes-star
Summary: War changes everything, even the strongest of people. But sometimes it can change people for the better. Hermione is lost and Draco is desperate to reach her.Fluffy One-Shot Song-Fic:'Imaginary' by Evanescence. Disclaimer: I DONT OWN ANY OF IT!


A/N: This little plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone! The fluffy little bastard was hippity-hopping all over my head and I couldn't resist.

It is meant to be a one-shot songfic and it's the first real Song-Fic that I've done. It's based on Evanescence's 'Imaginary' (I love this song- if you've never heard it I demand you check it out (.com/watch?v=A7FZDkJGW84 ) It really is an amazing song!)

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. No copyright infringement is intended for either JK Rowlings amazing world of Harry Potter or Evanescence's beautiful lyrics from the song _Imaginary. _I'm just a silly fangirl with too much time on her hands and who is cursed with evil little plot bunnies.

Hope you like it!

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_**Paper Flowers**_

_By RJM aka Snapes-star_

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_**Ahhhhhhhhh Paper flowers**_

How do you go back to the way things were? How do you start again? How do you pick up where you left off? Is it even possible?

Hermione Granger was a smart witch. She knew that things would never go back to the way they were. How could they? After everything they had all been through it was impossible to forget. Especially when everything and everyone had been changed irrevocably by the events of the war.

Harry drowned himself in firewhiskey and drugs while Ron immersed himself in the lifestyle of a famous war hero and Quidditch player. Ginny was enjoying the life of being a social butterfly and dating as many influential men as possible. And Hermione was left behind to deal with life on her own.

_**I linger in the doorway**_

_**Of alarm clock screaming**_

_**Monsters calling my name**_

How can you forget? How can you move on? How can you escape the memories?

You dream. You imagine a perfect a world. You drown yourself in it and let it consume you.

And that's exactly what Hermione did. She locked herself away in her own world of her own imagining.

_**Let me stay**_

_**Where the wind will whisper to me**_

_**Where the raindrops, as they're falling, tell a story**_

It was everything Hermione had ever dreamed of, ever longed for, ever wished for.

It was her perfect place, locked away inside her head. Nothing could compare to the beauty she saw there.

She never wanted to leave it.

_**In my field of paper flowers**_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby (Flowers)**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me (Flowers)**_

'She's only getting worse' Draco said sadly. 'She has fewer and fewer moments of lucidity and I'm running out of ideas on how to bring her back.'

'She's been lost to us for so long now… do you think it's wise to try to force her to come back when she obviously prefers to stay lost?' Mrs. Weasley asked sadly.

'I know it hurts you to see her this way Mrs. Weasley, and I do sympathize, but its not healthy what she's doing. The longer she stays locked away the harder it will be for her to come back. If there's any hope of bringing her back, we have to do it sooner rather than later'

'I know your right, Draco, and I can't express how much it means to me that you're working so hard with her. Everything is just falling apart and I can't help but wish she were here to knock some sense into those boys.' Mrs. Weasley sniffled and wiped her eyes with a hanky.

Draco laid a hand on the older woman's shoulder in a consoling way and spoke softly. 'Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I wont stop until I get through to her, I promise.'

_**Don't say I'm out of touch**_

_**With this rampant chaos- Your reality**_

_**I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge**_

_**The nightmare I built my own world to escape**_

At first Draco Malfoy had taken Hermione's case out of a sense of guilt and responsibility. After the war he had decided to do something worthwhile with his life and became a very successful Healer at St. Mungo's. He owed his success to Hermione, if it hadn't been for her, he would never have pushed himself so hard to be better than her. And though that had been his main motivation in school, after the war he had to reevaluate his motivation. He wanted to be better, yes, but not better than her, he wanted to be a better man, someone worth saving as she and her friends had done for him so many times before.

And now it was his chance to save her, but he was running out of ideas. He had tried everything he could think of. He had poured potion after potion down her throat, tried spell after spell, even a few mild curses, to try and bring her back from wherever it was that she escaped to in her mind. But none of it worked. Sure the pepper-up potions would work for a while, but it was as if the pain of real life was too much for her. She would cry and scream and beg for escape and the moment the effects wore off she would retreat back into her mind, where it seemed she was at peace.

Draco was beginning to lose hope of ever bringing her back. And that fact saddened him more than he cared to admit. He wanted more than anything to see the fire in her eyes again, that fire that smoldered him to ashes when they had been in school, the fire that gave her the courage to stand up to him, to punch him, to stand up for what she believed in.

But it seemed that that fire had been extinguished for good.

_**In my field of paper flowers**_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby (Flowers)**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me (Flowers)**_

Draco decided some tough love was in order. It was a last resort and he hated to do it but he had exhausted his resources and was becoming more and more desperate to get through to her.

He poured the pepper-up potion down her throat, waiting for the temporary fix to take effect.

He didn't realize he had been holding his breath until he let it out in a gust of wind as her eyes slowly began to open.

What he saw there tore at his heart with ruthless razor-like claws.

Pain. Sorrow. Desperation.

He knew he only had a moment before she began screaming again so he braced himself, locked his own emotions away, and plunged.

'Pay attention mudblood, I have something to say and you're going to listen.' Draco hated uttering that foul word but his own desperation pushed him past it. He waited until she met his gaze then when he was sure he had her full attention he continued.

'I'm sick and tired of trying to get through to you and if you don't stop this nonsense right now and snap out of it, you're going end up in here for the rest of your miserable life! Is that what you want? To be forgotten? To be thrown away like rubbish? What about your saintly friends? Are you going to leave them to rot in their own pathetic excuses for lives? Do you know what they've been doing while you've been hiding? Do you know that the Weasel is spending all of his money faster that you can say 'bankrupt'? Do you know that the Weaslette has screwed over half of the wizarding population? Do you know that Pothead actually is a pothead now? Do you know that he hangs out in seedy bars smoking and drinking and puking his guts out in alleys? Do you really want to leave them to ruin their lives like this? Don't you even care about them anymore?'

Draco asked that last question softly, hardly believing that this creature who had cared so much before now didn't give a damn. He waited hoping she would say yes, that she did still care, that the fire and compassion that made her who she had been was still there, buried somewhere deep inside.

'No.' she whispered hoarsely. 'Why should I? Why should I bother? Why, when it takes so much effort to even care about myself?'

Draco felt his hopes fly out the window with those harshly spoken words. She really was gone. She wasn't Hermione Granger anymore. She was someone else, just an empty shell of the girl he remembered.

Then the tears started, and Draco knew what would come next. First it was the tears, then the sobbing and hyperventilating, and then the screaming. Once that started it was no use trying to calm her down.

_**Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming**_

_**Cannot cease for fear of silent nights**_

_**Oh, how I long for the deep sleep dreaming**_

_**The goddess of imaginary light**_

Draco was desperate. He had lost all hope of ever bringing her back. So he decided to go to her, to join her in her sleeping refuge. He needed to reach her, to find that spark that he so desperately missed.

He had come to terms with his feelings for Hermione Granger soon after the war. He had realized that he had been heading towards this realization since the beginning. He had always thought that he hated her. He never stopped to examine why he thought he hated her so much but after some quick growing up he realized that hate was a passion very akin to love. He realized that you cant have one without the other.

He realized that he had been in love with her for most of his life. And it was only now that she had completely given up on life that he realized that he didn't want to live his without her. So if he was ever going to reach her he had to go to her.

Draco closed and locked the door of her dark private room and just looked longingly at her seemingly lifeless form. She was tiny and frail and colorless and yet she was still beautiful to him. He touched her cheek softly, marveling at the softness he found there. Merlin, how he wished she would open her eyes for him, smile again. She used to have such an easy and bright smile.

Draco pulled a small vial from inside his pocket and gently laid himself down next to her on her bed. He caressed her face once more before he took hold of her hand and brought it to his chest to lie over his heart. He tore the stopper off of the vial in his other hand with his teeth and then swallowed the purple substance inside. He tossed the empty vial to the floor and then placed his own hand over Hermione's heart. Then he closed his eyes and waited while the potion worked through him and allowed him to join Hermione in her imaginary world.

_**In my field of paper flowers **_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby (Flowers)**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me (Flowers)**_

He knew it had worked when he felt a strong warm breeze caress his face and lift his hair. The air in the hospital had been cool and stagnant, smelling of sterilizer and cleaning solution. Now he could smell the faint aroma of roses and honeysuckle being carried to him on the wind. And instead of the eerie quiet of the sterile hospital he could hear a singing on the wind. It was the most peaceful sound he had ever heard.

Draco opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a vast rolling meadow, teaming with yellow and white flowers. There were birds everywhere, fluttering and chirping from here to there in a constant dance, but the constant movement was steady and sedate, not busy and hectic like you might think. In fact the constant movement reminded Draco of the sea and it was calming.

But where was Hermione?

Draco looked out over the rolling hills of grass and flowers, searching for the creator of this beautiful place. There was a spot in the flowers just ahead that looked strangely patterned so Draco decided to investigate.

He walked slowly and when he reached the strange outcropping he realized that she was there, lying in the grass surrounded by her flowers with the sun kissing her rosy face and a small peaceful smile playing on her lips.

Draco's heart clenched tightly in his chest as he looked at her; this was the vibrant girl he remembered; the person he was trying to coax back to life.

'Hermione.' He whispered, dying to see her eyes again, to see life there.

But she didn't open her eyes. She just smiled.

He tried again but this time he knelt down beside her and as he spoke he brushed a stray strand of vibrant curly chestnut hair away from her soft face.

'Hermione.'

She opened her eyes and he saw fire.

'What are you doing here?' she asked confused.

'I had to find you Hermione.'

Her brows drew together and she looked sad. 'You're not real. You would never call me Hermione.' She closed her eyes again.

Draco felt the loss of her gaze in the core of his body and he reached out to her quickly, gently pulling her up to him so that her eyes popped like a dolls.

'I am real and I've waited a long time to find you. You have to come back with me Hermione.' He said softly as he caressed her face.

'Okay, maybe you are here, at least I know I wouldn't dream you up to try and make me leave, after all, why would I ever want to leave this place?' she opened her arms as if encompass the imaginary world she had dreamt up.

Draco took a moment to take in the beauty of her world, the flowers, the birds, the wind and the sky, it was all beautiful, but so was she, and he wanted her, needed her to be real again.

'It is beautiful Hermione, but we need you back in the real world.' he said softly.

All of a sudden the sky darkened and the birds were no longer flying at a slow sedate pace but rather an erratic chaotic pace. It was as if the dream had suddenly turned into nightmare.

'The world doesn't need me.' She said darkly. 'It never did.'

Draco realized that the change had come from Hermione, herself. He gently took her face into his hands and made her look into his eyes.

'I need you there, Hermione. I've always needed you.' Slowly and cautiously he lowered his lips to hers and tasted her for the first time.

Like flowers. She was like flowers.

The kiss was soft and sweet and everything Draco had ever imagined and more. This was what he was fighting so hard for.

As his passion and desperation overtook him he took the kiss deeper, pulling her body to his and sighing at the heavenly feeling of her responding to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back.

When Draco finally broke the kiss he noticed that her world had returned to its bright happy place and he smiled.

'You see? I can make it better for you Hermione. You just have to trust me.'

'I cant.' She said sadly. 'I don't belong there.'

'You belong with me. I'll take care of you, you know I will.'

'Then stay. Stay here with me.' She asked desperately.

'I cant, you know I can't. This isn't real. I can only stay as long the potion allows me to.'

'Don't leave!' She demanded, beginning to panic.

'I have to, Hermione' he said softly.

'But I don't want you to.' She cried.

Just then a small vibrantly bright yellow bird fluttered near Draco's head. With his quick seeker reflexes he was able to reach out and capture the bird with a gentle sweep of his hand.

Upon closer inspection he saw that the little bird wasn't covered in feathers at all. It was made of paper. He looked at Hermione.

'Paper birds?' he asked amused.

A shy smile lit up her face.

'Sort of a specialty of mine.'

'It's amazing.' He said and let the little bird go. He watched it fly away for a moment then turned back to Hermione who was watching him closely.

'Please come back with me Hermione. I need you.'

'But what if this isn't real? What if you aren't real and I wake up alone again? I don't think I can take it.' tears were beginning to flow freely down her face and Draco captured them before they could fall from her face. He gently wiped them away and lifted her chin to look him in the eye.

'I promise you this is real. I promise that I'll be there, that I'll always be there. You just have to trust me. Do you trust me Hermione?'

'Yes.'

Draco could feel himself being tugged, almost like he was apparating, and he knew his time here was coming to an end.

So he held her tightly, and whispered in her ear. 'I love you Hermione. Please come with me.'

Her small arms wrapped around him and Draco felt whole. But he was afraid, afraid that she would choose her imaginary world over him and it tore at his heart. So he held her tighter, holding onto her for as long as possible.

And then the breeze was gone, the sun was gone, and the lovely paper birds were gone.

He leaned up on his elbow and gazed down at Hermione's sleeping form which hadn't changed.

And he waited. He squeezed her hand and preyed. He laid his head near hers and whispered in her ear, 'Come to me Hermione.'

Still nothing. Draco sighed and sat back, watching her frail body as she breathed in and out, in and out.

Then he realized that her breathing had become erratic and heavy and that tears were coursing own her cheeks. She was awake!

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Then he whispered, 'Wake up Hermione, open your eyes for me. Please.'

Her eyes fluttered open and more tears escaped, which he quickly wiped away.

'I didn't think it was real. I didn't think you were real, but your really here.' She whispered.

'Yes I am and I'm not going anywhere. I love you Hermione Jean Granger and I won't let you leave me again, you hear me?' he said desperately.

Then he kissed her again and the world was right again; perfect.

Even Hermione couldn't come up with a better world if it didn't have Draco in it.

_**Paaaaapeeeeeer flooooooweeeeeeers**_

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A/N: So what did you think? Did it totally suck? I kinda think it might but it was a lot of fun writing it and I would love to know what you thought!

I noticed that there are plenty of song-fic's written for evanescence but I didn't find any for this particular song and I'm hoping that it is a bit more original. If its not please feel free flame me. Sometimes brutal honesty is necessary for me to realize something totally sucked.

So set me straight! Hit that magic green button!


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